2 HD disc formats play but at a price

2 HD disc formats play but at a price

Buying new tech gear when there's a format war going on is always dicey. For anyone trying to decide between the two new high-def DVD formats, LG Electronics has a $1,199 answer.
The LG Super Multi Blue Player Model BH100 I've been testing is billed as the world's first dual-format high-definition disc player. It handles Blu-ray and HD DVD, though it does much better with Blu-ray.


LG Super Multi Blue Player Model BH100.

The player launches at a time when the success of neither format is assured. Most people seem perfectly satisfied with the picture quality of conventional DVDs. I'm frankly not convinced even many HDTV owners are clamoring for something better than DVD.
Moreover, there are still relatively few titles and no clear-cut technological winner between Blu-ray and HD DVD.
Super Multi Blue's arrival at Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA and other stores this month may mean you no longer have to choose. Give LG credit for attempting to broker the peace. But I'm hard-pressed to recommend any DVD player that costs $1,199, especially given its shortcomings. Heck, it doesn't even play regular CDs.
LG claims the price isn't totally out of whack compared with some of the current HD DVD and, especially, Blu-ray players on the market. But in making a buying decision, I think most consumers are more likely to compare the LG player with a conventional DVD player.

A closer look at the LG machine:
•Performance. LG readily admits that HD DVD is the weaker technology in this machine.
The company started producing a Blu-ray player and added HD DVD capabilities later. So while it can handle all of Blu-ray's functionality, the LG player does not support interactive features available on many HD DVD titles. In fact, the FBI anti-piracy warning and MPAA rating frames you see before an HD DVD movie plays is generated by the machine and not the discs themselves.
Movie fans who appreciate DVD "extras" may be frustrated at times with HD DVD on this player. Without intuitive menus, I initially had problems finding the theatrical trailer, interviews and other bonus features on The Sting. Same on The Departed and Hollywoodland, each a combo title with regular DVD and HD DVD versions on different sides of the same disc.

High-def movies looked good in both HD DVD and Blu-ray. But the leap between those formats and regular DVD is nowhere near as dramatic as the advance between VHS tape and DVD.
In the middle of one Blu-ray title, the Adam Sandler comedy Click, the speaking voices sporadically dropped out, forcing me to hit pause and rewind to hear what I'd missed. Fortunately, I didn't encounter any hiccups on such Blu-ray titles as All The King's Men, Memento, Superman Returns and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, or any of the other HD DVD or regular DVD scenes I took in.

•The basics. There's nothing particular sexy about the look, which resembles, well, your basic black DVD player. Still, LG has provided some nice tactile and audio feedback. Buttons on the top beep for a moment and light up when you touch them. The intuitive remote control has decent-sized, well-laid-out buttons. One handy feature for parents: You can press a "lock" key on the remote to prevent junior from operating the buttons on the player.
A display window shows what kind of disc you are watching, as well as the usual info about elapsed time, chapters, etc.
You'll also find the resolution, up to what geeks refer to as 1080p (the top of the digital TV food chain if your TV can handle it). LG says the machine "up-converts," or improves, the quality of regular DVDs to 1080i resolution. I doubt average users will detect a major difference.
There's a typical complement of ports and inputs on the back of the unit, including an HDMI port for a cable that delivers high-def digital video and audio at its best. To keep the overall price down, however, LG makes you spring for your own HDMI cable (about $20 on up, depending on length and quality). Leaving the cable out is one of those seemingly minor decisions by a manufacturer that drives me nuts.

•The technology. Inside are two lasers. The "blue" laser handles both Blu-ray and HD DVD; the "red" handles conventional DVDs. Internal lenses sense the type of disc you've inserted.
LG may address the HD DVD deficiencies of its player in a future model. That, coupled with a steep price drop, will have to happen before I plunk down my own money.

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